iPhone – Raising a Generation on Touch Screen Keyboards

The iPhone was my first smart phone. Up until it was released, I never saw a reason to carry a “smart phone” around with me. They didn’t do what I wanted done in a way that I wanted to do it.

As a result, I never got used to, or addicted to, the Blackberry way of doing things.

With so many iPhones and iPod touches out there (and millions more will be sold this year – recession or not), there is an entire generation that is growing up learning how to type on a mobile device just like I did…with a touch screen.

I recently acquired a T-Mobile G1 – and I do really enjoy the Android OS. One of these days I’ll write up why I think its the Windows of this generation (but not today). The biggest problem I have with the device is the keyboard.

I can’t stand using the physical keyboard. I can’t get my head around it, and I can’t get my fingers to move fast enough for it to be in any way an affective communication tool.

With the iPhone, on the other hand, I can fly across the keys making only minimal mistakes. I’m sure if I’d started on a Blackberry I might feel differently…but I didn’t.

Millions of others haven’t either. So my question to you is – will the next generation…the ones that are getting iPod touches and their first iPhones now…usher in a complete era of the touch screen keyboard? Or will the physical keyboards last another 5 years? Another 10?

I too never had a smart phone. The iPhone ism y first and I can’t imagine using a physical keyboard. Also, I think they look like crap. I have not seen one phone with a keyboard that looks good. I think they are just ugly by design.

I’ve been predicting the end of keyboards for awhile now. Something so primitive was never meant to last, I mean actually having to press down a button to make something happen? Not in my Sci-Fi world. It’ll start with the mobile devices, then eventually spread to the desktop arena, but that will take some time and a revolutionary way to control a computer. But they won’t last, especially in mobile devices

The G1 is my first smartphone, and I have gotten pretty adept at the keyboard. Whenever I am at an Apple store, I try the touch-screen keyboard, and just can’t use it. I guess it just takes practice. I think old fashioned keyboards will last a while yet, at least on the desktop. I rest my hand on the physical keys quite a bit. It would seem fatiguing to have to hover your fingers for a while. Sorta like if the gas pedal didn’t have any resistance, your shin muscle would get tired pretty quickly. But maybe if there is another sensitivity setting on touch keyboards, that would help.

i see regular keyboards with LED displays on each key so each key will change depending on the application. So if you hit CAPS, all the letters become capitalized. If you are using a video editing application, then editing keys will be displayed. Think of how you could produce music in Garage Band if the keys changed for different instruments.